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166 direction—in farming, in trade, in commerce—to give importance to the nation in foreign lands, and to increase the individual wealth of our merchants and citizens. I speak of wealth as a desirable acquisition; and, as a Christian minister, I have no hesitation in doing so: for with proper aims and purposes before him, any man may as properly be ambitious of riches as of health, or shelter, or mental growth, or of innocent recreations. For although godless riches and unsanctified wealth "make themselves wings and fly away," and "perish by evil travail," and are filled with "deceitfulness," and are spoken of as "corrupted;" yet we see, both in sacred writ and in God's providence, that He gives riches, and wealth, and affluence, as precious gifts and favors, to the chosen ones whom He wills. For "Abraham was very rich" through His favor; and David had earthly prosperity in his day, and "died full of riches and honor;" and to Solomon the Lord declared—"I will give thee both riches and honor." Moreover, we find the record that "the Lord maketh poor and maketh rich"—that "the blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich"—in the blessing of Solomon—"both riches and honor come of God," and that "by the fear of the Lord are riches and honor." When I speak of wealth, however, I do not refer to the pitiful sums, which some minds of narrow scope aim after, for mere personal pride and luxurious content; but rather to the solid accumulations—to the grand acquisitions which may approximate, in our humble circumstances, to the great capital of merchants, and traders, and landed proprietors, in great lands abroad.